Prompting Change
by SwanQueenUK
Summary: A SwanQueen story based on the prompts for SwanQueen Week 7. A change in Emma's life frees her up to join Regina on a road trip for the 4th July weekend. What happens when these two best friends spend the holidays together? Complete. Rated M for Chapter 7.
1. Confession

A/N: And so begins my submission for the 7th bi-annual SwanQueen Week. I'm creating an eight chapter mini-story rather than separate one-shots though. Each chapter will focus on the daily prompt however. Hope you like it! Also, it's AU and there's no Henry, sorry!

* * *

"It's not you, it's me."

Emma cringed herself as she said the corny line but pressed on with her explanation. She needed to confess how she had been feeling for months now.

"I'm just not ready for the next step, Killian, and I don't think it's fair to make you wait until I am. You want to get married and settle down and have a family and I'm not there yet. I don't think I'll be there ten years from now, to be honest. We're only twenty-four, after all. I just," she cast around for the right words, "I don't think I've experienced enough of the world to make that sort of decision yet."

The man sat beside her on the park bench said nothing. He was staring out over the duck pond, watching the few people milling around the water's edge, feeding the ducks and enjoying the peace and quiet. Emma turned to watch as well, waiting.

"I never asked you to marry me," he said after a while. "I just thought we'd both want that soon, that's why I mentioned it."

"But that's the thing, Kil," Emma sighed. "I don't know if I'll ever want that. I don't think I'm a marriage sort of person, to be honest. And rather than wasting both our times, doesn't it make sense just to leave things here?"

"But I love you," Killian said, turning back to look at Emma. "Don't … don't you love me?"

"I … I'm not sure any more," she confessed. "I know I did. When we first got together I was completely in love with you. But that was three years ago and I can't help but feel we've both changed so much since we were twenty-one and now I want something different."

"Someone different," Killian remarked, a slight bite in his tone. "Have you met someone?"

"No," Emma said firmly. "It's nothing like that. I just think we might be happier if we weren't together any more. I'd still like to be friends with you though, Kil. I still want you in my life."

Killian sighed and scratched his beard before standing up. Emma stood too, reaching for his hand before he could walk away.

"Please, Killian, know that I'm really sorry," she said.

"I know," Killian said. "And I want to be friends with you too, Emma. But I'm going to need some time. I'll call you when I'm ready to talk, ok?"

He pulled gently from her grasp and walked away through the park. Emma watched until he was out of sight but he didn't look back. She sat down on the bench again and pulled out her cellphone. Tapping the screen several times, she put it to her ear as she rang her best friend.

* * *

Regina tapped her chin with her finger as she surveyed the tangle of bikinis she had found buried deep in her wardrobe. Extracting a simple black top and deciding it still fit her, she began to search for the bottoms which matched it. A bright red set also got thrown into the suitcase before Regina turned towards her closet and began rummaging around for some flip flops.

"What are you doing?"

"Jesus! Emma!" Regina said, sitting upright at once and placing her hand on her chest. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Well I did call to say I was coming home," Emma said, pushing aside the mountain of clothes on the bed and sitting down crosslegged. "Why didn't you answer?"

Regina stood from the floor and walked to her bedside table where her cellphone lay. There were indeed three missed calls from her best friend. And it was on silent.

"Sorry," she said, offering Emma a small smile. "How did it go?"

"As well as can be expected," the blonde shrugged. "He said he needed time to think about if he wanted to be friends with me."

"Hmmm, I know the feeling."

Emma grabbed some balled up socks and threw them at her smirking friend. Regina caught them easily and sat down beside her friend, looping an arm over her shoulders.

"I'm sorry," Regina said. "You guys were good together."

"You never liked him, admit it," Emma remarked, looking sideways at the brunette.

Her cheeks flushed a little and Regina stood to resume her footwear search. Emma snorted at the silent answer. She didn't blame Regina. Killian had never been particularly friendly with the brunette, always preferring to speak only with Emma when the three of them hung out. And since Regina hadn't dated anyone in the time they had been together, there hadn't been any opportunities for double dates. In that moment she wasn't sure why she had spent three yeas with the man, nor why it had taken her so long to finally end things with him. She had been expressing doubts to the woman now kneeling before her about their relationship for months but hadn't found the right way to tell her boyfriend. Ex boyfriend, she amended quickly.

"How long are you gonna be gone?" Emma asked as Regina turned to the case beside her with three different pairs of coloured flip flops.

"Just a week," Regina said, tucking the shoes neatly down the sides of her bag.

"God I'm going to be bored," Emma sighed. "Why did you have to go the one time of the year I actually don't need to be at work."

Emma's job as a school soccer coach kept her busy year round as she was always roped into summer school activities. But the first week in July was always a vacation for everyone involved with summer camps in the area and she was suddenly remembering that her plan to go hiking with Killian would probably not be happening.

"Well I did invite you," Regina reminded her.

"You did," Emma said slowly. "Does the invitation still stand?"

Regina looked up from packing her almost full case in surprise and cocked her head towards the blonde beside her.

"You want to come?"

"I'll be bored here on my own without Killian to distract me, and Ruby's off somewhere with Belle for the week."

"And you want to spend time with your awesome best friend, right?"

"That too," Emma laughed. "Come on, Gina, please."

"Of course you can come, Ems. If you can pack in," she glanced at her cellphone, "fifteen minutes. I promised Ma I'd be with her before nightfall and it's a five hour drive."

Emma leapt from the bed and raced out of Regina's room. Sprinting down the corridor she entered her own bedroom and jumped onto the bed to pull her case from the top of her wardrobe. Flinging it open, she began to pull clothes from her wardrobe and tossed them inside. Bikinis and flip flops followed. She bumped into Regina in the bathroom where both were collecting their toothbrushes and wash items. Regina rolled her eyes at Emma's haphazard methods as she carefully placed each item into her new wash bag. Emma, on the other hand, simply piled the bottles up in her arms, a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth and a mumbled request about borrowing Regina's hairdryer.

"Why couldn't we have left just a little later?" Emma asked, tripping over the dangling arm of a sweater as she walked awkwardly outside and deposited her overflowing case in the boot of Regina's Mercedes.

The car had been a gift from her father when she had graduated college. It was also the last thing he ever gave her before his untimely death eighteen months later. Regina had been visiting her mother much more often over the past year since that fateful day.

"She doesn't like me driving in the dark," Regina said as she came up behind Emma with her own, perfectly packed, suitcase.

"Hang on," Emma puffed, leaning on the edge of the car. "Your mother won't allow you to drive at night?"

Regina scowled at her friend as she slammed the trunk shut. Emma let out a peel of laughter as she made her way around to the passenger side of the car and climbed awkwardly into the low seats.

"Gina, you're almost twenty-five. You're still letting your ma tell you when you can and can't drive?"

"Shut up," Regina said as she turned the key in the ignition, "or I'll revoke your invitation."

"No you won't," Emma said, reaching for the AUX chord dangling from the car's radio system. "Because you know full well that I have the best road trip playlist ever on this." She waggled her phone before plugging it in. "Now, you get to choose first. The Clash or The Ramones?"


	2. Travel

A/N: thanks for all the follows/favourites etc! The story does have a plot although it was cobbled together in about five minutes so each chapter is kinda off the cuff. I should be uploading at about the same time as this every night (for me) from now on. Anyway, let's get on with the next prompt which is the title of this chapter.

And if you don't know the song the ladies sing first in this chapter, YouTube "Yazoo Only You" (Or watch Season 5A of Once Upon A Time).

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive?" Emma asked for what felt like the thousandth time since they set off from Boston over three hours earlier.

"I'm fine," Regina assured her, taking another sip of the coffee they had just stopped at the service station to buy. "And please put your feet down."

Emma wiggled her toes which were resting on the dashboard and shrugged. "Why? My shoes are off and my feet are squeaky clean."

Regina just looked sideways at her friend until Emma's feet slipped to the floor. She smiled cheekily at her friend and reached for the iPod which had just changed to an old Beatles track she wasn't in the mood for. Scrolling through her expansive road trip playlist, Emma's eyes lit up as she spotted one of her favourite songs.

Regina's eyebrows rose as the familiar twangs sounded from the stereo and she smiled. Emma knew how much the brunette loved Yazoo. It was one of the few songs they both agreed was awesome.

"Looking from a window above," Emma sang slightly out of tune, "it's like a story of love. Can you hear me?"

"Came back only yesterday, I'm moving farther away," Regina joined in.

"Want you near me," they harmonised.

Well, perhaps harmony was quite the word to describe the sound of the two young women's voices together but it didn't matter. Emma grinned widely at Regina as the song continued.

"All I needed was the love you gave," they sang. "All I needed for another day. And all I ever knew, only you."

Emma reached for the volume control and turned it up. Regina didn't protest. She began tapping out the song's rhythm on the steering wheel and allowed Emma to take the next verse.

"Sometimes when I think of her name, when it's only a game, and I need you," the blonde sang. "Listen to the words that you say, it's getting harder to stay, when I see you."

Regina briefly wondered whether her friend was thinking about the three year relationship she had just ended. It might have been Emma's decision but that didn't make it any easier really. She was distracted however when Emma thrust her water bottle into Regina's face as a makeshift microphone and she automatically picked up the lyrics for her own solo.

"All I needed was the love you gave. All I needed for another day. And all I ever knew, only you."

Regina looked sideways at Emma as the blonde began playing an air guitar. She burst out laughing as she saw her friend rock out to the instrumental part until they both joined in for the repeated chorus, singing at the top of their lungs.

"All I needed was the love you gave. All I needed for another day. And all I ever knew, only you."

Regina had forgotten how much fun it was to go on a road trip with her best friend. She couldn't remember the last time the two of them had traveled together and hadn't realised how much she missed it.

"This is going to take a long time, and I wonder what's mine. Can't take no more," Emma sang.

"Wonder if you'll understand, it's just the touch of your hand," she said, leaning over and grasping Emma's guitar playing fingers and squeezing with a wink, "behind a closed door."

Both put their all into the final chorus of the song, their voices spilling out from the open car windows and getting lost in the air speeding past.

"All I needed was the love you gave. All I needed for another day. And all I ever knew, only you," the two friends sang together.

Emma saw them out with another spectacular air guitar performance and Regina tapped along on the steering wheel once more until the melody faded.

"God I love that song!" Emma said. "Music used to be so much better back in the day. Not the crap that comes out nowadays."

"Oh it's not all crap," Regina protested. "Even you admitted to me you liked that new Justin Bieber song."

Emma mock-gasped and clasped her hand to her chest. "You said you'd take that secret to the grave, Regina Mills! I confessed that weakness to you in drunken confidence. How dare you ever speak of it!"

Regina just laughed and reached over to pull Emma's iPod from her hand. With one eye on the road, she scrolled through Emma's playlist until she found what she was looking for. Emma groaned as the familiar beginning echoed from the speakers. Regina just laughed and handed the iPod back. Emma didn't change the song. She was the one who had loaded it into the device, after all.

"Is it too late now to say sorreee," Emma sang pointedly in Regina's face as the chorus began.

"What for?" Regina asked.

"This," Emma said, placing her feet stubbornly back up on the dashboard and sliding down in her seat.

"Isn't the whole point of saying sorry that you know you've done something wrong and you're not going to do it again?"

"But if Bieber can make mistakes a couple of hundred times," Emma pointed out, quoting her guilty pleasure.

"Do I need to remind you _again_ that you're not Justin Bieber?" Regina asked. "Emma, maybe we need to take you to the therapist again if the delusions are coming back."

"Har har," Emma deadpanned.

Regina just laughed as she took the exit off the freeway and turned onto the smaller road which led to the town where the two women grew up. Storybrooke was too small to be signposted so far out but she and Emma felt the sense of coming home already.

"Sure you don't want me to drive?" Emma asked.

Regina didn't bother answering this time. She was less than two hours away from home and she didn't feel tired at all. She also didn't trust her friend behind the wheel. It was less than six months since she had rushed into the hospital after a call from Killian informed her Emma had flipped her old bug into a ditch on her way back to the city. She had miraculously walked away from the wreckage with only a fractured wrist but Regina had never been more scared in her life.

"Stop thinking about it."

"What?" Regina asked, snapping back to the present and refocusing on the road ahead of her.

"The crash," Emma said. "I know you were thinking about that night. I told you it was the ice and the fog. And I'm fine, remember?"

She held up her wrist and circled it pointedly. Regina's eyes remained firmly on the road ahead.

"Regina, I'm fine," Emma said, her voice softer.

"I know," Regina murmured.

They drove without speaking for a while, Emma choosing more mellow songs and watching as the countryside sped past. It wasn't until a message came through on Emma's phone and interrupted the music that the verbal silence was broken.

"Killian's pissed," Emma said, locking her phone without replying to the text she had just received from her ex.

"About the breakup?"

"About the fact that I left town half an hour later, I think," Emma said. "He messaged me earlier asking to talk and apparently my excuse that I'm heading to Storybrooke for the fourth of July isn't good enough. He thinks I'm running away from our problems."

"Are you?"

"No," Emma replied. "There are no problems, per se. I've just fallen out of love with him. That's not a problem we can fix so why bother trying?"

"Was he surprised by the breakup this morning?" Regina asked.

She tried not to spend too much time with Emma and Killian alone, although since she and the blonde lived together that was difficult. But she hated feeling like a third wheel so avoided it as much as possible. Which also meant she didn't know whether Killian had picked up on any changes within their relationship. She herself knew Emma had been having doubts for months but men seemed to be much less attuned to picking things up like that than women.

"I think so," Emma nodded. "He didn't seem to think there was anything wrong between us. He hadn't even realised how much I freaked out when he mentioned getting married a few weeks ago."

Regina remembered that day. Emma had come home and the two of them had spent most of the evening talking about how the blonde wasn't anywhere close to settling down and drinking copious amounts of wine. Emma and Killian had met in the final year of college and been together ever since but that didn't mean Emma wanted to marry him. Far from it, in fact.

"Do you think you did the right thing this morning?" Regina asked.

"Yes," Emma said at once. "I know he's not who I want to spend the rest of my life with so I'd just be wasting both our time if I stayed with him any longer. He'll find someone else soon enough. He's a great guy. Just … not the one I want."

Regina nodded her understanding. Well, maybe not understanding. It was hard for Regina to comprehend being with someone you didn't want to spend the rest of your life with because the only boyfriend Regina had ever had had been just that. Her soul mate. The one.

"Play something fun," she said to Emma, needing to distract herself from thoughts of Daniel.

Emma didn't need to ask why Regina wanted an upbeat song on. The two of them had been friends for a long time and the blonde had comforted the distraught woman through her boyfriend's death and the grieving afterwards. She was still grieving, Emma supposed and didn't want to be dragged down by her lost love for their trip back home. She scrolled through her iPod quickly and found The Weekend.

"Have you ever not been able to feel your face because of alcohol?" Regina asked as the song started up.

"Yup," Emma nodded, sounding proud. "Remember that night when we went to that tequila bar for Ruby's birthday a couple of years ago. I couldn't feel any body part by the end of the night. Killian and I gave up having sex because I was just completely unable to feel when he -,"

"Ok! Too much information!" Regina cried out, laughing as she did so.

Emma grinned too, pleased she had been able to distract her friend from thoughts of Daniel but also slightly annoyed that she had made herself think about Killian once more. She really didn't want this trip to be overshadowed by her own breakup.

Regina indicated and pulled off into a rest stop.

"Need me to drive?" Emma offered again.

Regina shook her head. "I need to pee," she said. "This coffee is running right through me."

Emma snorted and got out of the car, followed by Regina. The two of them made their way into the small cafe where Emma ordered two bear claws and another couple of coffees and Regina disappeared to use the facilities. Her friend looked reproachfully at the sugar covered snack when she reappeared but took it anyway, telling herself it was rude not to eat something bought for her by a friend. She only ever ate bad food when Emma offered it to her. It was a guilty pleasure, she supposed.

"Come on," Emma said, turning to find Regina with her eyes closed in the middle of the parking lot, a blissful smile on her face. "You can have an orgasm over the deliciousness of the food in the car."

Regina cracked an eye open and glowered at Emma who just grinned sweetly back at her.

"I wasn't having a food orgasm," Regina huffed, falling into step beside her friend.

"Looked that way to me," Emma shrugged.

"Well you've never seen me come so -," Regina stopped abruptly, deciding it was too weird to finish that sentence. Emma didn't seem to notice that it was incomplete and just got into the car once more.

Buckled safely in, Regina glanced at the clock on the dashboard.

"Don't worry," Emma said. "We're only an hour away now and the sun's still high in the sky. Your mom's not gonna tell you off."

"Shut up," Regina laughed, slapping Emma's thigh lightly before putting the car into gear and pulling back onto the road.


	3. Insecurities

A/N: I like writing nice Cora sometimes. It makes a change, right?

* * *

"Regina! Emma! Darlings!" Cora cried as she rushed out of the mansion just as the young women were climbing out of the Mercedes now parked in the driveway.

Regina was engulfed in her mother's arms and squeezed back, hugging her tightly. Emma walked around to join them, Cora's arm looping around her shoulders too and the little group stood there for quite some time. Regina hadn't been back to her childhood home since Christmas and it had been even longer for Emma who had travelled to Ireland with Killian for the festivities.

"I'm so glad you came, Emma," Cora said as they broke apart. "You know you're always welcome to join Regina on her trips home, right? I miss you girls being away in the big city so much."

"I know, Cora," Emma smiled. "And I'm sorry I've not been coming back so often. I hope that will change now though."

"Yes, Regina told me about your breakup with Killian," Cora said sympathetically. "I'm sorry to hear that. He was a nice guy."

Emma nodded and smiled sadly, not sure what the correct way to respond to that statement was. She was saved from answering by Regina who passed Emma her case and the three of them made their way into the stately home. Emma had been blown away by the huge white house when she first visited over a decade ago but now the building, with its seventeen rooms, felt like a second home to her. She dumped her case beside Regina's at the foot of the sweeping staircase and smiled as she looked around. It was good to be back.

"So what's the plan for the forth?" Emma asked as she sat down on the familiar terrace at the back of the house and thanked Cora who was pouring homemade lemonade into a chilled glass for her.

"Well, the Nolans are having some fireworks in the evening and there's a party on the beach tomorrow afternoon which I'm supposed to be contributing some food towards. No idea what I'm going to make so if either of you have any ideas or want to help …" She looked at Emma and Regina but knew full well neither of them would say anything. Young, independent women they might be but domestic goddesses they were not.

Regina kicked off her sneakers and rested her feet on the chair, her already tanned calves soaking in the late afternoon Maine sunshine. Emma looked longingly at the sparkling surface of the pool, wondering how long it would be before Cora invited them to take a dip. It might have been approaching sunset but the heat of the day hung heavy in the air and she needed to cool off. It had been a long drive down as well and she was feeling restless.

"Go on," said the older Mills, interrupting Emma's thoughts. "Swim now so I have time to run to the store and then I'll rope you into food preparations later. Deal?"

Emma and Regina grinned at each other before standing and heading into the house to get changed. Emma was staying in one of the many guest bedrooms whilst Regina was going to be sleeping in her old room. It was unchanged since she had left for college six years prior and she felt like an eighteen year old again every time she reentered the pale lavender space.

"Hurry up," Emma said, appearing in the doorway five minutes later, a green bikini on and a towel thrown over her shoulder. She was rubbing in suncream as she stood there, her pale skin shining in the dim light of the hallway.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Regina laughed, pulling her t-shirt off and unclasping her bra.

The two women had been friends for so long that they had seen each other naked too many times to have any concept of modesty. Regina put on her black bikini top and then turned to Emma, asking without words for her to fasten the lower strap. Emma did so, her finger grazing against the smooth olive skin.

She sat down on the bed as she waited for Regina to finish getting dressed, her denim shorts cast aside and her skimpy bottoms pulled up. The brunette deciding against sunscreen, it being too late in the day for her skin to burn.

"You can still get cancer though," Emma remarked as she followed her friend from the room.

Regina ignored her, making her way down the stairs and out into the garden. The pool was rarely used by Cora but kept immaculate. Regina dipped her toe into the chilled water and stretched her arms above her head. She squealed as Emma dived in directly beside her, splashing her body with droplets as she disappeared below the previously calm surface. Before Emma had a chance to re-emerge, Regina had jumped on top of her, legs clamped around her waist as the blonde swam to the surface.

Regina laughed before she found herself being thrown off, her legs dislodged from around Emma's waist as the blonde fought to reach the air. The blonde took in great lungfuls of oxygen, pushing her blonde hair from her face as she glowered at her smirking friend.

"Oh you're dead," she growled before she launched herself across the pool at Regina who shrieked and dove under the surface.

The brunette had always been a strong swimmer and her powerful strokes took her out of Emma's reach and to the far end of the pool. Emma followed, grasping ineffectually at the kicking feet until she at last managed to corner Regina near the small diving platform.

"Ok, ok, I surrender," Regina gasped as Emma finally wrapped her slick arms around her waist, legs clamping her hips.

Emma retreated and grinned in triumph. The two settled down against the wall, watching as the sky above them turned reddish-orange as the sun began to dim beneath the horizon. The white walls of the house took on the sun's glow and long shadows were cast over the garden.

"Do you think I did the right thing?" Emma asked after a while. "With Killian, I mean."

Regina turned to her friend, leaning her head back against the pool's edge before she answered.

"Yes," she said softly. "He wasn't what you wanted, Emma. You said as much to me months ago. It didn't make sense to stay with him any longer. It wasn't fair to either of you."

Emma nodded her understanding at the truthful statement and kicked off from the wall. After a moment's hesitation, Regina followed so the two of them were swimming side by side. They reached the end of the pool and turned in unison, heading back to the far end.

"What if I can't find anyone else?" Emma asked as they reached the other side. "What if Killian's the only guy who wants me."

Regina moved through the water so she was stood in front of her friend. She put her hands on Emma's shoulders and squeezed gently.

"Emma, who wouldn't want you?" she said sincerely. "Think about it. You're incredibly beautiful, you're intelligent and funny and you're an amazingly loyal friend. I'm sure you're not going to have any problem finding someone else as and when you're ready to date again."

The blonde shrugged. "But I'm also stroppy and stubborn and I hate backing down in an argument and I'm a terrible cook and I don't earn enough to live on my own and I -,"

"Shut up," Regina said, laughing slightly. "Emma, seriously. You don't need to go crawling back to Killian because you've not met someone else yet. It's been six hours since you broke up and you've only spent that time with me. What were you expecting? A line of guys outside the house waiting to date you?"

"I'm not good at being single," Emma said quietly.

"I know," Regina said. "And I know it's hard being on your own and it's scary and it's nice to have someone complimenting you all the time but you know what? Being single is good. It gets rid of those insecurities. It means we face those things about ourselves we're not happy with and we get over them. Maybe you'll learn to cook, or maybe you'll stop being so stubborn. You can grow as a person without being in a relationship, Emma. It's not the end of the world to be single for a while. You know that, right?"

"I know," Emma nodded. "I mean, you've been single for ages and you're fucking amazing." Despite the compliment, pain flashed over Regina's face. "Shit, sorry, Gina. I didn't mean it. I know that you …"

Emma stopped talking. She was usually so good, so careful about not bringing up Regina's relationship status. It had been a long time since she had stopped trying to persuade the brunette to get back out there. Regina wasn't ready. And, Emma thought, might never be. The sudden loss of Daniel had hit her hard. Irreparably hard, perhaps. She wanted her best friend to find happiness with another person again, of course. But she was beginning to doubt whether she would ever be ready.

"You'll find someone," Regina said, breaking the awkward silence. "Just wait and see, Ems. You won't be single for long if you don't want to be."

"Do you think I'm pathetic?" Emma asked suddenly. "The way I need a man in my life to validate me?"

"No," Regina replied quietly. "You're not pathetic. You just need to be shown love."

The two women fell silent, the water lapping quietly around their still bodies. The sky was a purple-pink hue by now and the lights from the house cast yellow squares over the darkened lawn.

"Come on," Regina said. "We'd better go and help Ma with whatever she has decided to make for tomorrow's beach party. If the food's really good, I bet you could claim you made it and pull some guy just for your false culinary skills."

"Shut up," Emma laughed. "I'm not saying I want to hook up with someone. It's not sex I want."

"Whatever," Regina chortled, swimming slowly over to the ladder so she could get out of the pool. "Just because it's been a few years since I've had it, doesn't mean I don't remember how addictive it can be."

"Do you miss it?"

Emma audibly gasped at how blunt her question had sounded and Regina turned slowly in the water to face her blushing friend.

"Sorry," Emma said quickly. "Forget I even asked that."

"No, it's ok," Regina said. "You're my best friend, remember? We're supposed to tell each other everything. And yes, I do miss sex. Although it's not so much the act but the intimacy from which it stems. You know that feeling of being completely comfortable with someone and feeling so accepted and loved just for who you are? That's what I miss. Not the physical way in which that is expressed."

Regina turned and climbed from the pool. Emma followed without another word. The two wrapped towels around their bodies, the chill of the evening air already setting in.

"Although," Regina added as they entered the house and began to climb the stairs, "I'm not going to deny how much I miss being touched by someone else. It's not the same when you do it yourself, if you know what I mean."

Emma burst out laughing. Regina had never been one to shy away from topics such as sex. It was one of the many things Emma loved about her and their friendship.

By the time they returned downstairs, freshly showered and dressed, Cora had returned from her trip to the store and was busy in the kitchen.

"What are we making then?" Emma asked, picking up a bundle of lettuce laying by the sink and beginning to wash it.

"A massive salad and some guacamole," Cora replied. "I'm not even going to attempt to make nachos but we can pick some up at the store on the way to the beach tomorrow. Reggie, honey, could you make a start on the avocados, please."

The three of them worked side by side for over an hour until at last all of the preparations were complete. Satisfied but hungry, they decided to order pizza rather than make dinner and returned to the terrace with a bottle of wine.

"So," Cora said as she handed Emma and Regina their glasses. "What's the gossip from Boston? I want to hear all about what you ladies have been getting up to since your last trip down here."


	4. Illness

A/N: this isn't technically an illness … but it fitted the storyline better than an actual sickness so I hope you don't mind!

* * *

Regina readjusted her sunglasses as she lay on her towel, the heat from the sun warming her skin. She closed her eyes and rested her book beside her, letting out a deep sigh. She had missed the beach. Boston was wonderful but the peace and quiet of Storybrooke, the fresh air, the salty ocean, couldn't be beaten.

She shrieked as cold water splashed onto her skin and sat bolt upright, blinking in the bright light as her sunglasses fell off. Emma's laugher met her ears and she scowled at her friend who was standing beside her, long blonde hair dripping wet from the sea.

"Come on, lazy," Emma laughed. "The water's great."

"It's freezing," Regina grumbled. "As you just proved when you splashed me."

"But it's so hot out here," Emma said, sitting down cross-legged besides Regina and scooping up some guacamole on her finger.

"If you want some food, go and get it yourself," Regina said, pulling her half-eaten plate out of reach.

"But it's so far," Emma pouted, glancing over to the gazebo which had been erected under which tables still groaned with copious amounts of food.

Regina ignored her whining friend and finished off the remains of the guacamole. Even if she did say so herself, it was rather good. She batted Emma's hand away as she reached for the half-eaten hotdog resting on Regina's plate.

"Gina," Emma said. "Come on. You're not even going to eat that. You're always complaining about carbs and processed meat."

Regina raised an eyebrow at her friend who had put on her best pleading expression. With a sigh, she held out the plate to Emma who grinned, thanked the brunette, and stuffed the remainder of the hotdog into her mouth.

"You're disgusting," Regina remarked.

"Thanks," Emma said through a mouthful of food. "Wanna beer?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "So you'll get up for alcohol but not food?"

"Well there is no alcohol here," Emma pointed out. "Whereas I was merely making sure that food didn't go to waste. So, beer? You in?"

"Sure," Regina nodded.

She didn't usually drink beer but since she was on the beach on a summer's day it seemed appropriate. Settling back on her towel, she watched the children from Storybrooke who had set up some races on the sand before her. She recognised many of them but there were some she didn't. It made her realise how long she had been away. One of the reasons she loved growing up in a small town was the community atmosphere. She wondered how much longer she would feel like a resident, however. Boston was her home now, after all, and clearly people were coming and going from the town faster than she could keep up.

"Here," Emma said, plonking herself down beside Regina and handing over a beer.

"What's that?" Regina asked, eyeing the cooler Emma had deposited on the sand beside them.

"More beer," Emma said. "Saves me walking back and forth every time."

"You are literally the laziest person I know," Regina laughed. "How the hell do you stay in such good shape?" Her eyes roved jealously over the smooth, flat plane of Emma's stomach, the muscles defined and firm.

"Well my job does involve running around constantly," Emma points out. "And anyway, you're not exactly fat."

It was true. Regina also kept herself trim and fit but she was always watching what she ate and went to the gym four times a week. Although Emma's work kept her active, she still consumed a ridiculous amount of junk food. It seemed unfair somehow.

"So when are the fireworks?" Emma asked.

"Nine, I think," Regina said. "Suppose they've got to wait for it to get dark enough."

"Can we watch them from here or do we have to go to the Nolan's?"

"I reckon we'll get a good view from here," Regina said, craning her next around to spot the beachside property a little way up the coast where the fireworks would be set off from. "Why? Are you too lazy to move?"

"I plan to be too drunk to walk by that point," Emma said, draining her first beer and opening the cooler to pull out a second. She offered one to Regina who simply held her still almost full bottle up.

"I'm not carrying you home," Regina warned her as Emma popped the cap and took a long drag.

"I'm great at crawling," Emma replied.

Regina laughed and lay back down. After a moment, Emma did too, sunglasses shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun overhead. They were quiet for a while, listening to the sounds drifting towards them from other friends and families on the beach for the day's festivities.

"Why are you planning to drink so much?" Regina asked.

"Because I'm celebrating American Independence," Emma said, tilting her head up to take another sip as she spoke. "And because I want to forget."

"About Killian?" Regina asked.

There was silence. Which meant Regina had guessed correctly. She sighed and rolled onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow. Emma heard the movement and cracked one eye open, waiting for whatever Regina was going to say.

"You did the right thing, you know," she said softly. "He wasn't who you wanted. You don't need to feel bad about breaking up with him. He wouldn't have wanted you to stay together just because you didn't want to hurt him. He's not that selfish."

"I know," Emma said.

"You'll find someone else," Regina said, echoing their conversation in the pool the previous day. "There must be more people in the world than just myself and Killian who are able to put up with all your insufferable habits."

"Well, if they're insufferable, why are you friends with me?" Emma asked.

"Good point," Regina laughed. "I must be mad."

"Not debating that," Emma chortled.

Regina held her beer bottle above the blonde until a trickle of condensation dripped onto her chest.

"Hey!" Emma said, squirming as the cold water dribbled over her skin.

"For earlier," Regina replied, laying back down.

Emma grumbled but didn't retaliate. She'd get Regina back at a later date, she was sure of it. She closed her eyes and thought about what her friend had said. It was true that both Killian and Regina had stuck around for years, her best friend in particular, so perhaps she wasn't destined to be alone forever. It was just that Emma didn't do single life very well. She liked being in a committed relationship. She liked being someone's number one. A wave of guilt flooded her body as she realised Regina hadn't had that for so long. The brunette deserved someone who would put her first again, Emma thought. Regina was an amazing person; intelligent, funny, kind, beautiful. When would she finally let anyone other than Emma see that?

Emma sat up and opened her third beer, handing Regina her second and grabbing the frisbee which was lying on the sand beside them.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go and find some fit boys to throw this around with."

By the time the fireworks began, Emma could barely string a sentence together. She sat on the sand, wrapped in a towel, a beer bottle swinging lazily from her fingers. A bearded young man sat behind her, his legs cradling her hips and his arms looped around her waist. She leaned her head back against his shoulder as she watched the fireworks exploding high above her. Regina sat beside the pair, alone.

When the final glowing ember had faded into the inky black sky. Emma started a round of applause which rippled through the crowds on the beach. Regina got to her feet, beginning to pack away their picnic things.

"Where're you goin'?" Emma slurred as she blinked blearily up at her friend.

"Home," Regina replied. "You coming?"

Emma glanced over her shoulder at the man behind her and then back at Regina. "Nope, I think we'll hang out here a bit more."

Regina rolled her eyes and crouched down beside her friend. "Emma, get up please."

"Why?" Emma asked, obeying the command in her drunken state and staggering upwards.

"Because we're going home."

"Can Neal come?" Emma asked, turning to smile down at her new friend.

"Can the guy you met five hours ago come back to my mother's home so you can have bad drunken sex in the guest room? No, Emma, he can't."

Emma pouted and sat back down. Regina ignored her and continued packing the supplies from the day away. She walked to the road where her car was parked, deposited everything in the trunk and then returned to Emma. By the time she got back to the couple, Neal was on his back, Emma splayed on top of him with their mouths working furiously.

"Emma, come on," Regina said, tapping her inebriated friend's shoulder.

"I'm busy, Gina," Emma mumbled against Neal's lips.

Regina sighed and pushed Emma sideways. She slid from Neal's body and landed on the cool wet sand.

"Ouch!" Emma exclaimed.

"Sorry," Regina said shortly. "Come on, Emma. We're going home."

"Can Neal come?" Emma asked.

Regina hesitated for a moment. "Sure."

She turned and walked back to the car where, over a minute later, Emma and Neal finally joined her after they meandered up the beach together.

"Emma, you get in the passenger side and Neal, you can sit behind my seat."

Emma trotted around and opened the door, stumbled inside, and slammed it shut. Neal moved towards Regina's but the brunette stepped neatly in front of him.

"Bad luck, buddy," she said. "I'm afraid your fun with my friend is up now. She's drunk and sad and doesn't actually want you."

"Shut up," Neal said, trying to push past Regina but the brunette grabbed his arm and pinned it quickly behind his back. He squeaked in pain as Regina twisted him around and pushed him back down the bank onto the sand where he tripped and sprawled onto his face. Not waiting to see if he was alright, Regina got straight into her car and started the engine.

"Where's Neal?" Emma asked.

"He had to go and get some extra small condoms," Regina said, knowing the blonde would be passed out by the time they got home and not up for asking any more questions.

"Ok," Emma said, turning to gaze out the window as Regina pulled away from the curb.

In fact Emma wasn't asleep by the time they got home. But she was throwing up. The plastic bag Regina had grabbed just in time balanced dangerously on her lap as Regina swung the car into the driveway. She leapt out as soon as they were stationary, raced around, and opened the door just as Emma vomited all over the ground. She shrieked and jumped out of the way, waiting until the blonde stopped heaving to move closer.

"Come on, honey," Regina said, heaving Emma from the car. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Emma managed to throw up in three different bathrooms between the car and her bedroom. When she was finally safely crouching in front of the toilet in the guest ensuite, Regina sat beside her and rubbed soothing circles on her back as the blonde continued to empty her stomach. Eventually she stopped being sick and rested her cheek against the side of the toilet seat.

"No, you can't sleep yet," Regina said. "We need to get you clean. You're literally covered in vomit."

She pulled Emma's tank top over her head and rolled Emma over so she could remove the denim shorts too. Since Emma was in a bikini, Regina didn't see the point in removing it so she rid herself of her own clothes and hoisted her friend towards the shower. They climbed in together, Regina knowing she was going to get wet either way. The water seemed to wake Emma up a little and she mumbled about beers and Neal and the beach as Regina tenderly soaped her sicky body. By the time they were done, Emma was standing again, her make-up hanging in low rings around her eyes. Regina turned off the water and stepped out, handed Emma a towel, and grabbed one for herself.

"Thanks," Emma said, stifling a yawn.

"You're welcome," Regina replied.

She put toothpaste on the blonde's brush and then went in search of her pyjamas which she found under the pillow. Returning to the bathroom, she helped Emma undo the tight ties of her bikini top and wiped the copious amounts of water the blonde had missed from her upper body. Once the t-shirt was in place, she quickly removed her bikini bottoms and held out the shorts for Emma to step into. With her own body still clad in a towel, Regina led Emma back into the bedroom and pulled back the covers, Emma climbed in without a word and was passed out within seconds.

Regina leaned over and placed a kiss to her friend's forehead before she turned off the light, left the room, and headed for her own bed.

* * *

She was awoken the next morning by her phone vibrating. Grasping blindly at her bedside table, she unlocked the device and read the text.

 _I'm dead_

She rolled her eyes at her friend's dramatics but slid out of bed anyway. She knocked on Emma's door and took the answering groan as permission to enter. The room was dark but she could see the blonde head poking up from beneath the duvet.

"Gina?" Emma asked.

"Morning," Regina replied softly, sliding into the warm bed beside her friend who rolled over to face her.

"I think I'm dying," Emma said, her voice hoarse.

"Feeling bad?"

Emma nodded. "I've been throwing up all morning," she admitted. "I think I've bruised my insides."

Regina sighed. "Well, I'm not going to say I told you so but -,"

"Gina!" Emma whined. "I'm ill, you have to be nice to me."

"Correction, you're hungover," the brunette pointed out. "Which is not an illness. It's also self-inflicted so I have zero sympathy for you."

Emma whimpered pathetically and wiggled closer to her friend. Regina couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for the woman now nestled against her side. Emma looked so pathetic, frankly. And after all, she had been drinking to get over a break-up; Regina couldn't really blame her for being sad about the end of her three year relationship with Killian even if he wasn't who she wanted. So she slid an arm around Emma's shoulders and closed her eyes, content to just lie with her 'ill' friend and grieve the loss of her relationship together.

"Who's Neal?"

"What?" Regina asked, opening her eyes again.

"Neal," Emma repeated. "I can't remember who he is but his name is in my head and I think we met last night."

"Oh you did more than meet," Regina chuckled. "In fact I'm pretty sure he's responsible for this."

She pointed to a large red mark on Emma's neck. The blonde's eyes grew wide in realisation. She might not have been able to see the skin in question but she had a pretty good idea what Regina was laughing at.

"A hickie?" she exclaimed. "Oh my god! What am I? Fifteen? Please tell me no one will notice."

Regina pretended to inspect the frankly huge and distinct area to see if it could be hidden but there was no way the blonde was going to be able to disguise what had happened. She didn't need to say anything for Emma to know how bad it was.

"Please kill me," Emma said, pulling the duvet over her head.

Regina laughed and rolled onto her side, looping an arm carefully over Emma's still sensitive stomach.

"Come on," Regina said. "Let's get some more sleep and we can try and cover your love bite with make-up in a few hours time when we're both feeling more like facing the world."

Emma grumbled incoherently but moved herself closer to Regina as she did so, turning so her best friend could be the big spoon as she slowly felt sleep claim her exhausted body once more.

* * *

A/N: this chapter leads beautifully (hopefully) into tomorrow's prompt - sleeping


	5. Sleeping

A/N: We're getting there guys! Also, I'm changing the title of this story … which is annoying I know but I've decided it's necessary. It'll now be called Prompting Change.

* * *

It wasn't uncommon for Regina and Emma to wake up in each others beds, usually with a hangover. Throughout college it had been a regular occurrence, in between Daniel staying the night at the girls' shared apartment. And then after his death, Emma spent months sleeping beside her friend, cradling her body as it wracked with sobs, wiping her tears after she fell asleep, being there when she woke from her nightmares to sooth and reassure. Regina needed her presence, it was as simple as that. And then, as time passed, she slowly moved back to her own room. Once Killian appeared in her life, their lazy Sunday mornings snuggled beneath the duvet together watching television became less and less frequent.

Regina smiled at the familiarity therefore when she woke up hours later with her face buried in the blonde mass of hair. Her arms were still wrapped around Emma's waist, the gentle rise and fall of her chest telling her Emma was still asleep. Sun peeked through the curtains now and she suspected it was almost lunchtime. She didn't feel much like eating however so she simply closed her eyes and snuggled closer.

It was Cora who woke the pair of them in the end.

"What happened to you last night?" she asked, peering around the door and seeing the two women cuddled up together.

"Beer," Emma mumbled sleepily. "Sorry, Cora."

Cora simply laughed. "No need to apologise. It seems the two of you were safely in bed hours before I got home. You missed quite the party up at the Nolans'. David and James did a duet and Mary Margaret for some reason thought she could pole dance. She can't by the way. But it was quite hilarious."

Emma chuckled at the image and yawned. Regina giggled too before rolling onto her back and stretching.

"Well, we had a party of our own," she said. "At least, Emma did."

"I can see that," Cora remarked, eyes zeroing in on the obvious love bite on Emma's neck.

Emma's eyes widened as she realised what the older woman was staring at and she pulled the covers over her head with a groan. Cora just laughed again and sat down next to her daughter, patting her leg.

"What's your plan for today?" she asked.

"Well I don't think Emma's up for moving so not much. Why?"

"I was going to go down to the stables for a ride. Do you want to join me? Hangover girl can stay here and recover if she's not up to facing the day."

Regina hesitated for a moment before answering but then she felt Emma's finger prodding her side in encouragement.

"Sure," she smiled. "Give me half an hour?"

"Perfect," Cora replied. "Emma, can I get you anything?"

"A time machine?" came the muffled reply. "My dignity?"

Both Mills chuckled. "I'll search Amazon and see what I can come up with," Cora replied as she stood from the bed and headed out of the room.

* * *

Regina loved the rhythmic, rocking movement of the horse beneath her and smiled widely as she and her mother turned onto their familiar cantering path. Rocinante, her childhood steed, didn't get ridden as much as she would like but the stables occasionally used him for hacks and she rode whenever she was home too. Her mother also took him out when her own horse, a temperamental former racer, was lame or had lost a shoe.

"Ready?" Cora asked, smirking at her daughter.

"You know it's not fair when Trigger is almost two decades younger than mine and has been trained specifically for racing, right?" Regina grumbled.

"I'll give you a five second head start," Cora said, pulling on the reins to slow her already eager horse.

Regina narrowed her eyes at her mother before suddenly whipping her head around and digging her heels into Rocinante's side. He exploded forwards, wind whipping Regina's hair across her face as the elderly horse delighted in being allowed to run at last. He may be old but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy a good gallop. Regina knew her mother would be streaking past any moment but she didn't care. Hunched over the saddle, she tucked herself close to the dark mane, breathing in the scent of the horse as hooves thundered below her. A flash beside her announced Cora's arrival and overtake. Rocinante tried to catch up but already he was tired. Sensing this, Regina sat up and pulled gently on his soft mouth, bringing him to a slow canter and then a trot. Cora was waiting at the top for them, a shit-eating grin on her face.

"I don't like you sometimes," Regina remarked as she patted Rocinante's sweaty neck.

"And I love you too, darling daughter," Cora chuckled.

They fell into step beside one another as they made their way through the woods. The two of them had ridden together throughout Regina's childhood and both women missed the time they spent on horseback greatly.

"So, who was the guy?" Cora asked.

"Emma's?"

Cora nodded. "Unless there's something I don't know."

"No, no," Regina said, shaking her head. "And it was just some jock down for the holidays. Neal someone. I can't even remember now and I doubt Emma can either. I think he was a nephew of a family in town. Either way, I left him on the beach and brought Emma home."

"You're a good friend," Cora said.

"She's a bad drunk," Regina remarked.

"Perhaps," Cora nodded. "Or maybe she just needed something to distract herself from Killian."

Regina considered this for a moment.

"Yeah but it's more than that. She's been going on about how she's bad at being single. I think she just wanted to replace him, to be honest. She doesn't do well on her own, we've always known that."

"She's never been alone, she's always had you," Cora pointed out.

"True," Regina chuckled.

"I've never known friends like you two before," Cora said. "You were always close but you're just so … in sync, I suppose. Even when Emma was with Killian your friendship stayed just as strong. That's rare you know."

"I value it," Regina shrugged. "I wasn't going to let some guy come between us."

They rode on in silence for a while, Cora wondering how to broach the subject she'd been avoiding discussing for months now.

"You know, having a man in your own life wouldn't come between you either."

Regina tensed slightly in the saddle. Rocinante stumbled, sensing his rider's change in mood.

"Ma, please," Regina said quietly. "I told you, I'm not ready."

Cora nodded understandingly. "I know, honey. I know. But it's been four years. At some point soon, I think you are going to be ready to move on. And I don't want you to resist that because you think it'll change your friendship with Emma. She'll be there for you, no matter what."

But when they got home, Emma wasn't there. The bed where they had left the blonde was empty and unmade. Her flip flops were missing from the hallway and the garden was deserted. Regina sent her a text to let her know they were home and headed out to the pool for a swim.

It wasn't until Regina was lying on the large hammock reading her book over an hour later that Emma finally reappeared. Sneaking up behind the preoccupied brunette, she suddenly launched herself into the swinging bed, landing heavily on Regina who shrieked and then groaned as Emma's knee collided with her stomach.

"Jesus, Ems," Regina said, wiggling sideways as her friend settled down beside her. Although the hammock was big, gravity meant they had both rolled into the middle of the fabric and were squashed awkwardly together.

"Hi," Emma said, sounding much perkier than she had a few hours earlier. "How was your ride?"

"Great," Regina said, a serene smile on her lips. "How was your day? Where did you go?"

"Oh just out to the store," Emma said. "I got you something."

She dropped a small package onto Regina's chest. Frowning, the brunette picked it up and unwrapped it, revealing a small jewellery box. Prying open the lid, she gasped as she saw the beautiful earrings within it. Two tiny white gold daisies, their yellow centres made of some precious stone glinted in the afternoon sunlight. She turned to Emma.

"What are these for?" she asked.

"To say thank you," Emma shrugged. "For looking after me last night and not letting me stay with that Neal guy. I don't remember him but from the monstrosity of a love bite on my neck I'm pretty sure you rescued me from a vampire."

Regina chuckled and shook her head. "You're welcome, Ems. And you didn't have to buy me anything to say thank you. That's what friends do, remember?"

"I know," Emma said. "And to be honest I didn't go out looking for a gift for you. I had a craving for reese's cups and you didn't have any in the kitchen so I headed out. I spotted the earrings in the window of a store and couldn't resist getting them for you. You do like them, right?"

"I love them," Regina said at once. "They're beautiful, thank you!"

She sat up somewhat awkwardly and undid her plain silver studs already adorning her ears. Removing her gifts, she slid them into place and turned to smile at Emma, pushing the clasps firmly onto the backs.

"How do they look?"

"On you, perfect," Emma said, sliding out of the way as Regina lay back down.

They lay in silence for a while, the hammock rocking slowly back and forth. White clouds sailed quietly overhead but the sun still beat down, warming their bodies and causing their eyes to drift closed.

When Cora went in search of the two of them at dinner time, she found them curled up together in the exact same spot. Regina's head was tucked into the crook of Emma's neck, her arm thrown across her waist and Emma's fingers laced between her own. The older Mills cocked her head to one side as she watched them sleeping peacefully, a thought briefly crossing her mind before she shook her head and leaned forwards to rouse the pair gently from their slumber.


	6. Arguments

A/N: so if this has mistakes in it sorry! I'm rushing to get ready for a party and needed this up before I left!

* * *

The next few days slipped peacefully by, both women enjoying being back in the town where they had grown up. Although Emma's foster parents had moved away years before, they still had plenty of friends in the town with whom to meet and catch up over a coffee. Thoughts of Killian faded steadily from Emma's mind and it wasn't until their last full day in Storybrooke that his name was brought up in conversation.

"Fancy going to the movies when we get back?" Regina asked.

"Sure, what do you want to see?" Emma replied, eyes slowly opening.

The two women were lying in the garden on their fronts, bikini tops discarded to ensure the suntan was even across their backs. Regina was on her phone, watching movie trailers and Emma was dozing in the muggy afternoon air.

"Suicide Squad," Regina replied. "Margot Robbie looks awesome in it."

"Oh I said I'd go and see that with Killian," Emma said before realising abruptly that her ex boyfriend probably wouldn't want to go to the cinema with her now.

Regina turned to her friend, a sympathetic look on her face.

"Then let's go together and forget all about him," she said.

"But I don't want to forget," Emma said.

"No, I don't mean forget him completely," Regina amended. "I know you had some good times with him."

"We had great times," Emma mused. "Really great, actually." There was a pause, and then, "Shit."

Regina knew exactly what her friend was thinking and she also knew she did not agree with those thoughts.

"Don't go back to him, Ems," she said softly.

"Why not?" Emma asked, turning to look at her friend again.

"Because you don't want him. Not really. You want to be with someone but you know deep down he's not the right one for you. Don't go back to him just because you're scared of being alone."

"I'm not scared," Emma said at once.

"Yes you are," Regina said. "And that's ok. It is scary to be single but it's also great and fun and exciting."

"Well clearly you love it," Emma snapped.

Regina's mouth set in a thin line. Her heart quickened. Emma never spoke to her about that, especially on the subject of Daniel. She reached around and began to fasten her bikini top, needing to get away from the blonde before their conversation turned into a full blown argument.

"I didn't mean that," Emma said, biting her lip in realisation at what she had said. "Gina, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Regina said, sitting up and adjusting her bikini straps. "I'm going for a shower."

Emma reached up and grasped her hand before she could leave. "No, Regina, wait. Please."

"Emma, let go of me," Regina said, her eyes closed.

After a moment's hesitation, Emma let the warm skin slide from her own, a lump in her throat as she watched her best friend stand up and walk away, head bowed. She could tell she had really hurt the brunette and wished she could make it better, take all the pain away. Regina had suffered enough because of Daniel's untimely death. She didn't need her so-called best friend making her feel bad as well.

"Fuck," she muttered to herself as Regina entered the house.

She knew it was no good to follow her friend just yet. Regina needed some time alone. So she lay in the sun trying to work out how best to apologise for what she had said. She hadn't meant it. She knew Regina wanted to be with someone; her friend had confessed as much when drunk several times since the loss of Daniel. But she also knew she was scared. Scared to let someone in again when her heart was still so fragile. The only person she really trusted to be in her life, the only person she trusted to always be there for her, was Emma.

Regina was sitting on her bed when Emma finally went to find her. A towel was twisted up on top of the brunette's head and she was clad in a dressing gown. She had clearly just showered. Her eyes were slightly red. She had obviously been crying too. Emma knocked gently on the open door and waited for Regina to nod her consent.

"Hey," Emma said, perching herself on the edge of the bed near Regina's feet. "You ok?"

"Fine," Regina nodded without looking up from her cell phone.

"Gina, I didn't mean it," Emma said softly. "I shouldn't have said that and I'm really sorry. I know you're not ready and that's fine. I'm sure when you do want to get back out there you'll find someone amazing in no time."

Regina at last raised her eyes to meet the earnest green orbs before her. Emma smiled encouragingly and patted Regina's bare calf.

"You were right, as well," Emma continued. "I do know Killian isn't the one for me. And I am scared of being alone. But I also think it might be good for me, a bit of independent soul searching, you know?"

"Oh I know all about that," Regina said wryly.

"And look at the amazing person you've become as a result," Emma said quickly. "When you are ready to meet someone else, they're going to be the luckiest guy in the world."

Regina sighed and put her phone down before looking at her friend again with a curious expression, as if she was weighing up how much to say.

"What's going on in your head right now? You can tell me," Emma encouraged. "I'm your best friend, Gina, you can tell me anything."

Regina nodded and pulled the towel turban off, shaking out her damp hair and running her fingers through the tangles. Emma knew she was just stalling but she waited patiently until Regina looked at her once more.

"I feel like I'm betraying him," she said at last. Emma didn't need to ask who Regina was referring to. She knew it was Daniel.

"How so?"

"I know he'd want me to be happy, and I know he'd want me to be with someone whom I love and who loves me but I can't help but think of him looking down on me and thinking I've moved on too soon."

Emma shifted up the bed and took Regina's hands in her own.

"Gina, it's been four years. You've grieved enough. Daniel will always be in your heart and you'll never truly move on from him. But you deserve to be happy and you don't have to feel guilty if you're ready to find someone new."

"Maybe I've already found someone," Regina said, her eyes cast downwards again.

"Really?" Emma asked, surprised. She hadn't even been aware Regina was remotely interested in anyone. "Who?"

Regina pulled her hands from Emma's and swung her legs off the bed, walking over to the window and staring out over the street beyond. Emma waited for the brunette to speak but when she didn't, she walked to her friend's side and stood in silence too.

"Daniel understood me," Regina said. "He accepted every part of who I am and loved me for me. I trusted him with my life and I knew he would do anything for me. That's rare, you know. Our relationship was something special and I didn't think I'd ever find anything even close to that level of intimacy again."

"But you have?" Emma asked softly.

"I think so," the brunette nodded. "I wasn't even looking, to be honest. I didn't even realise what was happening for years. And then, recently, … everything clicked and I, well, I just knew."

"Knew what?"

Regina turned from the window and walked back across her room to the photo board still on the wall from when she had lived in the house as a child. Thumb tacks held in dozens of photos, mostly of Regina and Emma as well as the two women with various friends from high school. Daniel was in several too. She reached out and removed a photo, looking down at the image with a curious expression on her face.

"It took me a long time to see it," the brunette murmured. "And I think it took you even longer. In fact, I don't even know if you're aware of it now."

Immensely confused, Emma crossed the room to look at the photo Regina was still gazing at. It was a snap of the two women from when they were eighteen, during the summer after they graduated high school. Regina was lying with her head in Emma's lap, laughing heartily at something the blonde had said. Eighteen year old Emma was grinning back down at her friend, a warmth in her eyes which only ever appeared when she was with Regina.

"Do you see it?" Regina asked, turning to her friend.

Emma held out her hand for the photo and ran her thumb over the captured moment in time. Did she see it? Was Regina saying what she thought she was saying?

"Us?" Emma asked in little more than a whisper.

"Us," Regina nodded.

She walked back to her bed and climbed on, sitting back against the pillows and waiting for Emma to absorb what she had just said. It seemed she had been right in her assessment that the blonde had been oblivious to what had been steadily blossoming between them for over a decade. But Regina had waited that long, she could wait a little longer. Finally, Emma turned towards Regina and slowly made her way back to the bed where she sat down, the photo held in her numb hands.

"But we're friends," Emma said slowly.

"We are," Regina nodded. "Best friends. Friends who share everything with each other and who would do anything for each other. Friends who spend as much time as possible together and are there when anything happens, good or bad. But recently I've realised there's more to it than that. We're closer than just friends, Emma, and it took me a long time to work out why."

Emma hesitated before asking her next question. "And what did you discover?"

Regina leaned forwards and reached for Emma's hands, squeezing them softly between her own and ignoring the tingling of her skin the contact created.

"Emma, you're my best friend and I love you. Like, really love you," she added. Emma's eyes widened slightly but Regina pressed on. "I … want you. I want us to be together. And I don't know quite when I started feeling like this but I do and I can't not say it any more, Ems. Not now you and Killian are over. I love you and I want to be with you. I'm ready. I'm ready for us to be more than what we are right now."

There was a heavy silence when Regina stopped talking. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest that she was surprised the blonde couldn't hear the beating. This was it. This was the moment when her life would change irreparably. Whether for the better or worse, she wasn't sure just yet. That was in Emma's hands.

"I love you too," Emma said at last and Regina let out a sigh of relief. "As a friend."

Regina's eyes sparkled with tears and she pulled her hands away, sliding quickly from the bed and walking towards the ensuite. She had almost reached the door when a familiar hand encircled her wrist.

"Wait," Emma said.

Regina turned slowly on the spot to face Emma who was standing mere inches from her.

"You didn't let me finish," the blonde said. "What I was going to say is that I love you as a friend and I've never considered the possibility of our relationship being anything more."

Regina nodded her understanding and turned towards the bathroom again.

"Jeez, stop being so impatient," Emma said, sidestepping the brunette and blocking her progress. "I hadn't considered the possibility of more. Until today."

Regina's breath hitched and her heart flickered with hope. Did that mean…? Emma was looking at her with an unreadable expression. When cool hands cupped Regina's cheeks, her breath hitched and her eyes widened in surprise. The kiss was the barest brush of skin on skin, their lips grazing together for a split second before Emma pulled back, eyes opening slowly to look into the familiar face of her best friend. Regina's brown orbs, still sparkling with tears, were uncertain and scared and, undeniably, aroused.

"I -,"

"Wait," Emma said, pressing a finger to Regina's lips. "Let me try again."

Regina opened her mouth to say something but the words were lost when Emma's lips pressed against her own, more confident this time. Their mouths moved softly against one another, exploring the new sensations. Emma angled Regina's head back slightly as the brunette's hands moved subconsciously to grasp at her friend's hips. Their tongues touched. There was a moan, from whom, neither woman knew. When they broke apart a second time, Emma's green pupils were almost eclipsed by round, black circles.

"Oh, ok," Emma breathed out, her hot breath hitting Regina's face and making her shiver.

"Ok what?" Regina whispered back.

"Ok," Emma repeated. "Us. Ok."


	7. Physical Intimacy

A/N: thanks for all the wonderful comments on the last chapter. I'm really glad you guys like the way this story is progressing. Please note the rating change and that's because this chapter is NSFW.

* * *

"So … what now?" Regina asked, her forehead resting against Emma's, the pair still stood in the doorway to her ensuite.

Emma shrugged and leaned forwards to kiss Regina again softly, marvelling at how completely normal and natural it felt to do so, as if they'd been doing it for years. She wrapped her arms around the shorter woman, resting her hands in the small of her back and let out a soft sigh.

"Are we … dating?" Regina asked, her voice laced with uncertainty.

"I guess," Emma replied. "Does that mean we have to go on dates and ask each other questions like 'what's your favourite movie?' and all that jazz?"

"Your favourite movie is Fight Club. Your favourite colour is red. And your favourite food is a cheeseburger," Regina replied.

"Good point," Emma laughed. "I suppose you already know me pretty well."

"There are some things I don't know about you though," Regina said, her fingers rubbing small circles against Emma's hip bones through the thin fabric of her cotton t-shirt she had thrown on over her bikini.

Emma felt her skin tingle, a warmth spreading through her body. She dipped back down to press her lips against Regina's, stepping closer and encircling her arms tighter. Regina hummed into the contact, her fingers digging into Emma's flesh a little more firmly.

"Is this crazy?" Emma breathed out when they broke apart.

Regina tensed. Was Emma regretting this already? The blonde felt her friend's body react and quickly clarified what she meant.

"I mean, it is crazy how right this feels? Were we crazy for not seeing this before?"

Regina let out a sigh of relief and smiled up into the green eyes above her.

"It does feel right, doesn't it?" she said. "But I don't think that makes us crazy. We just weren't looking, that's all."

"I'm looking now," Emma said, her eyes roving over her friend's body.

It was then that Regina realised she was completely naked under her robe. She felt her skin heat at the thought and squirmed slightly in Emma's arms. The blonde released her at once, pouting slightly.

"Sorry," Regina said. "Just … let me put on some clothes, ok?"

"Why?" Emma asked.

"Because I'm naked," Regina said, eyebrows raised pointedly.

"And you're putting clothes on now, what? So I have to work harder to get what I want?"

"What you want?" Regina asked.

Emma decided not to answer with words and instead kissed Regina again, walking the brunette backwards until her back collided softly with the doorframe. She leaned against it, Emma pressed hotly against her front and allowed her tongue to tease Emma's lips. The blonde's mouth opened at once. Their tongues met, swiping delicately at each other before Emma relented and allowed Regina to explore her mouth. Using her knee, she nudged Regina's thighs apart and wedged her own leg between them. The warmth of Regina's skin radiated against her bare thigh and Emma moaned into the kiss before taking control herself. She chased Regina's tongue back into the brunette's mouth and delighted in the taste of her best friend; sweet and spicy at the same time.

Regina's hands were still on Emma's hips, keeping their pelvises pressed close together. Emma threaded her fingers through Regina's still damp hair as her tongue continued to delve inside the brunette's mouth. Regina supposed it shouldn't have surprised her how good Emma was at kissing. She was a sexy, confident woman after all, but she was also clearly reading her body language and adapting her technique. Emma heard the breathy whine of delight when teeth nibbled tenderly on Regina's plump lower lip. She felt Regina's hips cant forwards when her tongue ran along the roof of the brunette's mouth. She sensed the puff of air against her skin when her fingers tugged gently on Regina's hair.

"Wait."

Emma stepped back at once, eyes black with arousal yet also scared, unsure quite why Regina had stopped the kiss.

"Are we moving too fast?" Regina asked, breathing a little ragged.

"Do you not want this?" Emma asked.

"No, I do," Regina said at once. "I really, really do, Emma. But … well, I've been thinking about you, us, together, for a while. Until ten minutes ago, the thought hadn't even crossed your mind. Are you ready for this?"

Emma smiled at her friend and stepped back towards her.

"Regina, I am more than ready for this. Just because I didn't know exactly how I felt about you, doesn't mean my body wasn't aware of it. Seriously, I've never felt more aroused by a kiss than I do right now. I want you, Regina. I want to touch you and I want you to touch me. I really, really want this, honestly."

Regina smirked at that and pushed off the wall. She placed a quick kiss to Emma's lips before moving past her friend and locking her bedroom door. Her mother was in town having a coffee with friends but the brunette wanted to be sure they weren't interrupted. By the time she had turned back around, Emma had moved to sit on the bed. Regina followed, her fingers toying with the tie holding her robe closed.

"Let me do it," Emma said, reaching out to slowly undo the knot.

It wasn't like the two of them hadn't seen each other naked before. That was an almost weekly occurrence, especially since Emma regularly forgot to take a towel into their shared bathroom. But this time was different. As the material opened, Emma's breath hitched as the thin strip of Regina's body came into view. She reached up and slowly pushed the robe wider until it slid from Regina's shoulders and landed on the floor. Regina had never felt more exposed, more vulnerable, and more sexy in her life as she stood there, completely nude, with Emma's eyes drinking in every inch of her body. Her skin glowed with a healthy tan, her breasts high and pert, nipple puckering against the cool air. Her waist was narrow and the curve of her hip beautifully formed. At the apex of her thighs was a narrow strip of hair, neatly trimmed, the sight of which made Emma's core throb suddenly.

"Come here," she instructed, unwilling to wait any longer.

Regina stepped towards the bed and knelt onto it, straddling Emma and pushing the blonde back down onto her back. She went willingly, their mouths fused together. Emma's hands landed on Regina's hips, the familiar skin suddenly hotter, smoother, sexier than ever before. She stroked upwards, her fingernails scratching slightly, making Regina moan into their kiss. Emma stored that piece of information away for later. One hand splayed against Regina's back between her shoulder blades and the other came around to cup a hanging breast, squeezing it tenderly and feeling the hard nipple against her palm. Emma felt her sex twitch.

She had never thought of Regina in a sexual way before. Sure, she knew her friend was beautiful and had an incredible body, but she had never entertained the idea of being with her. Now, Emma wasn't sure how she had gotten through life without knowing how it felt to touch Regina Mills. Suddenly, she knew she needed more.

She reached down and pulled her own t-shirt over her head, wriggling it awkwardly from her body. Regina helped her and then moved her hands to untie Emma's bikini which had been revealed to her. Once the top was gone, the two women worked together to remove the bottoms. And then they were still. Regina sat astride the tops of Emma's thighs, both women beautifully naked. Their cores were mere inches from one another, their flushed chests rising and falling erratically. But they paused, knowing that whatever happened next, their friendship was going to change forever.

It was Regina who moved first. She leaned back down, kissing Emma firmly as their breasts touched and her hand reached down to cup Emma's sex. The blonde gasped into the kiss and bit down on Regina's lip, her body vibrating with desire as she felt fingers tentatively rub her clit. She moaned as two digits circled around the hard bundle before dipping lower. Regina's mouth stopped moving against Emma's as her brain short-circuited at the feeling of Emma's juices coating her fingers. She had never been so aroused in her life. How had this not happened before? How had she been missing such a delectable experience? She slid her fingers slickly through the gathered essence, feeling Emma's smooth labia and knowing her own sex was just as wet.

Emma's hands slid down to grasp Regina's ass, fingers digging into the soft flesh and making the brunette shudder. Emma smirked into their kiss even as Regina's fingers reached her entrance. Two tips pushed softly at her core, dipping just inside before retreating. Regina pulled back from the kiss, wanting to see Emma's face when she entered her for the first time. Emma's green eyes met brown and the two women shared a loving smile. Emma rocked her hips minutely, encouraging the brunette to keep going, although both knew there was no chance of the other stopping.

Eyes locked, Regina slowly pushed one finger into the blonde. Emma's mouth fell open, a gasp escaping and Regina suppressed a cry of delight. It felt amazing. Emma's walls clamped tightly around her finger and she pushed deeper, the hot, velvety core welcoming her touch. Emma's eyes fluttered closed as Regina pulled out, her body already missing the sensation of being filled. But it didn't have to wait long because Regina pushed in again straight away, setting up a slow steady, sensual rhythm. Emma hummed her approval.

Regina felt her own core twitch in anticipation as Emma's fingers left her ass and traced the crease in her skin where her hip and thigh joined. Her head fell forwards onto Emma's shoulder when two fingers ghosted over her clit. She cried out against the sweet-smelling skin, her body vibrating with desire. Her single finger, still buried deep in Emma's core, stopped moving momentarily, her brain too overcome with sensations to think straight. Emma didn't mind. Instead she traced tight, fast little circles around the tender nerve bundle, sensing as she did so that the brunette was already incredibly close to the edge. After all, it had been years since she had been touched by anyone but her own hand. The orgasm was long overdue. So she was gentle and loving and oh so tender when she brought her hand up to Regina's face and encouraged her friend to meet her eyes, fingers stilled on her pulsing clit. When their gazes locked, Emma spoke.

"I love you."

Regina's body bucked as she cried out, Emma's fingers rubbing harder against her clit, making her nerve endings feel like they were on fire. Regina pulled her finger out of Emma's core, needing to brace her body's weight on both arms as she felt her orgasm rush towards her. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the waves of pleasure which began to engulf her. Emma watched in amazement as her friend began to come. Her mouth was open, her head thrown back, her body trembling and her sex suddenly slick with fresh juices. Emma dipped her fingers through them and returned quickly to Regina's clit, coaxing a second, smaller orgasm from her before Regina's arms at last gave out and she collapsed onto Emma, shuddering and whimpering. Emma placed a kiss to Regina's sweaty brow and wrapped her free arm around her back. Her fingers inside Regina had stilled but her hand remained trapped between their bodies.

"Emma," came a breathy moan after a few minutes, Regina turning her head towards the blonde's face and blindly seeking out her lips.

The kiss was soft, slow, and so full of love both women could feel their hearts expanding at the contact. Emma finally slid her hand from Regina's sex, resisting the urge to taste the come on her fingers and instead wrapped Regina in a tight hug, all space between their bodies erased.

"That was amazing," Regina murmured when the kiss ended. "You're amazing."

"So are you," Emma said. "You're beautiful when you come, Gina."

Her cheeks flushed at the compliment and Regina buried her face in Emma's neck. The blonde just chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"Seriously," she said. "You're fucking gorgeous, you know that, right?"

Regina mumbled thank you before rolling off Emma and propping herself up on her elbow. Emma smiled up at her dopily, pleased her friend had taken the compliment without protest. It was true, after all. She gasped however when Regina's hand suddenly cupped her neglected sex once more. She had almost forgotten that Regina had been steadily building her up and now she remembered how close she had been. Two fingers slid back inside quickly, Emma's body stretching perfectly around them. The thrusts were steady, powerful, and Regina leaned down to swallow Emma's cries of delight with an eager, open-mouthed kiss. Emma's hands wrapped around Regina's neck, pulling the brunette down even closer to her, fingers still pistoning between her spread thighs. She came with a loud "fuck", her back arching off the bed, poised for several seconds before she collapsed back down, breathing heavily.

Slowly, Regina pulled her fingers from Emma's tender sex. Unable to resist, she brought them to her lips and sucked the glistening essence from them. Emma tasted delicious; musty and tangy and utterly addictive. When Emma's eyes opened to see Regina's tongue lapping at her own fingers, she groaned with desire and leaned up to capture the brunette's lips, tasting herself on Regina's mouth.

Eventually, the kiss ended and Regina lay down beside Emma, her thigh thrown over Emma's hips and her body pressed against her side. Emma's arm was around her neck, her fingers tracing random patterns on the smooth skin of Regina's bicep.

"Well, that was incredible," Emma said after a while.

"Um, yeah!" Regina said.

"Thank you," Emma added.

"For what?" Regina asked.

"For being brave enough to tell me how you feel," Emma said. "Without that, who knows how long it would have taken me to work out what was between us."

"What is between us?" Regina said.

"Something special."


	8. Coming Out

A/N: and here's your final chapter!

* * *

The front door slammed.

Regina's eyes snapped open, staring down her body to the place where Emma lay, nestled between her thighs. Green met brown, tongue frozen in place against Regina's clit, two fingers buried deep inside a pulsing core.

"Ma," Regina breathed.

Emma pulled back at once. Reluctantly, of course. She wiped her mouth and climbed off the bed, scanning the room for her bikini. Regina slid from the sheets too, heading to her wardrobe to select some new clothes. They could hear Cora moving around downstairs in the kitchen and knew it wouldn't be long until the older Mills came looking for them.

"You don't want to tell her?" Emma asked, sitting on the end of the bed and pulling her t-shirt over her head.

"Not yet," Regina replied as she buttoned her denim shorts. "Soon, but not yet. Is that ok?"

"Sure," Emma said, standing up and walking over to the brunette, kissing her softly.

"So no kissing," Regina said, pulling away.

"Ok," Emma said, wrapping her arms quickly around her friend and grasping her ass.

"Or doing that," Regina mock scolded.

"Ok," Emma grinned.

"Girls! Where are you?"

Emma stepped back immediately, even though she knew the bedroom door was locked and Cora was clearly far away, judging from her shout.

"Coming," Regina called back.

"Well, not quite," Emma pointed out. "A few more minutes and you would have been."

Regina blushed deeply and Emma laughed, leading the way over to the door and unlocking it. She waited as her friend (girlfriend?) pulled on her own tank top and then the two of them headed down the hallway and the stairs.

"Hey," Cora greeted when the two girls emerged onto the back terrace, the sky above streaked with orange from the setting sun. "How was your afternoon?"

"Very satisfying, thanks," Emma said, deliberately not looking at Regina as she sat down and took the offered glass of sangria. "How was your coffee and catch-up?"

"Lovely, thank you dear," Cora smiled. "Do you guys have any requests for dinner seeing as it's your last night here?"

"Lasagne?" Emma asked, eyes hopeful.

Cora and Regina exchanged knowing looks. The blonde had always loved their secret family recipe for the Italian staple. Even after years of pleading, neither woman had revealed what gave the dish that little extra kick.

"Of course," Cora chuckled. "In fact, I think we have all the ingredients we need already. Regina, do you want to help me?"

"Um, actually I was going to shower and then pack up my case. I want to get an early start tomorrow morning because the traffic will be bad heading into the city."

Emma hid a smirk behind her glass. She knew the brunette was still feeling the heat from their earlier sessions and probably wanted to take a cold shower. At that point, Emma realised she should too. Her thighs were still sticky with her own essence and she could taste Regina on her tongue. Her heart beat a little quicker at the thought.

"Are you ok?" Cora asked, suddenly looking at her daughter with concern. "You look a little flushed."

The colour in Regina's cheeks darkened even further.

"I'm fine," she replied at once. "I just spent a little too long in the sun today I think. I should probably drink some more water."

The brunette leapt to her feet and all but sprinted from the back terrace into the house. Cora watched her daughter flee and then turned to Emma, eyebrows raised.

"What's going on?"

Emma swallowed. She had always been a terrible liar. But then she remembered that Regina didn't want to tell her mother about their new relationship, not yet. So she was going to have to try.

"She was just sunbathing a lot today," Emma sputtered. "I'm sure she'll be fine in a bit."

Cora narrowed her eyes. "You're literally the worst liar in the world," she said. "Is Regina ok?"

"She's fine," Emma assured the clearly concerned and confused mother. "Really, Cora, Regina is fine. Great actually."

"Great?"

"Um, yeah," Emma nodded. "This holiday has been good for us. I mean, her. It's been good for her."

"Us? The two of you?" Cora asked.

Emma bit her lip and glanced towards the open door, willing Regina to walk back through it and save her from the hole she was steadily digging herself.

"Cora, Regina's fine, ok? Please, just drop it."

"Drop it?" Cora repeated. "I'm just wondering why my daughter, who has skin which never burns and used to spend her entire summers outdoors, is now using heatstroke as an excuse for whatever has happened since I went out this afternoon. I'm concerned, Emma. But if it's something private that Regina doesn't want me to know about, that's fine. Just say so and I won't ask any more questions."

"Ok, it's private," Emma said.

"Concerning the two of you. Together. In an 'us' capacity?"

Emma's eyes darted once more too the house and to her relief saw Regina moving down the corridor towards them. She didn't dare look back at Cora until Regina had resumed her seat, a glass of water in her hand.

"What?" the brunette asked when she saw how the two women were staring at her. Cora was wearing a curious expression and Emma looked guilty. She sighed. "Emma, did you tell her?"

"Yes," Cora said at once.

"No, I didn't!" Emma protested. "Cora!"

The older Mills laughed at Emma's aghast expression. "Ok, ok she didn't," she amended. "But I know something's going on and I'd really quite like to know what. I don't want to withhold my famous lasagne from Emma as punishment for your refusal to tell me what is clearly juicy gossip!"

Regina squirmed in her chair and looked at Emma. The blonde shrugged. She didn't care if Cora knew, not now she'd realised exactly how she felt herself. Regina nodded minutely and turned back to her mother. Cora leaned forwards and sipped her sangria, thinking she knew exactly what was coming.

"Emma and I," Regina began.

"Yes," Cora said, eyebrows waggling.

"Geez, Ma! Do you know?"

"Know what?" Cora said. "You've not told me anything."

Regina scowled. "You knew before we did, didn't you."

"That you to are more than friends? Yeah," Cora replied. "I was wondering how long it was going to take you guys to work it out. What made you see the light?"

"Regina," Emma replied. "She finally told me just how sexy she thought I was."

Regina actually squeaked at that. Did Emma really just tell her mother she thought Emma was sexy? But Cora just laughed and leaned forwards to top up both the women's glasses with sangria.

"Well, it's about time," Cora said simply. "If it had taken you much longer, I was going to have to intervene myself. I almost thought you'd worked it out yourselves the other day, actually. I guess it was only a matter of time since Emma broke up with Killian."

The blonde bit her lip. She hadn't even thought about how her ex would react to the news. It would be a shock for him to find out Emma had moved on so quickly, let alone beginning a relationship with a woman.

"He'll be happy for you," Cora said, reading the look on Emma's face perfectly. "He loves you, Emma. He'll want you to be with someone who makes you happy."

"I hope so," Emma said.

"We'll work out how to tell him in the kindest way," Regina assured her. "We won't let him bully the information out of us like this one." She glared at her mother.

"Is it my fault I can read you both like a book and could tell something was making the two of you completely giddy with happiness?" Cora asked.

Regina blushed again but Emma beamed with pride. She stood up and walked across to where Regina was sitting. After waiting for her friend to nod her permission, Emma leaned down and gently kissed the plump lips below her, climbing onto Regina's lap and curling up there, arm around her shoulder. Cora smiled at the sight.

"Seriously, how did it take you so long?" Cora asked. "You're literally perfect for each other."

"Well, she's perfect," Emma said, kissing Regina's cheek. "I just fit next to her."

"Perfectly," Regina added, looping her arm around Emma's waist and kissing her lips.

Cora sighed in contentment at the sight. She had been waiting four years to see her daughter truly happy again. Sure, she had seen Regina laughing and joyful with Emma in that time but she knew something was missing. Regina needed to feel loved again. Really, powerfully, scarily, endlessly loved. And there, with her arms wrapped around the waist of her best friend, Cora knew Regina had found it.

* * *

A/N: thanks for joining me on this mini AU for SwanQueen Week 7. I hope you enjoyed it and if you did and you're new to my work, please check out any of my four (as I type this) long AU SwanQueen fics; Always Alone, Behind Bars, Dangerous Desires, and Troubled Teachers. You can also follow me on Twitter at SwanQueenUKFF for updates on all my stories.


End file.
